Letters to the editor for Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Published: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, March 18, 2013 at 5:56 p.m.

Your front-page announcement that yet another $100,000 spent on a tourism workshop produced little only confirms the unparalleled stupidity of those we have elected to run Daytona Beach.

We came here for a week, and have been here a half-century. Having been around the world a few times, we noted Daytona Beach had the best beach in the world. What do we promote? The expansion of Bike Week and NASCAR. Most Daytona Beach residents stay home or go on a cruise for those two weeks. Crowds flock to Miami, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and the Riviera for beaches far inferior to ours. These crowds promote better restaurants, galleries, real estate and other good things Daytona Beach cannot afford because our leaders do not promote our really great asset: Our beach!

CARMEN RODRIGUEZ

Daytona Beach Shores

The big giveaway

Millions of dollars leave the United States for foreign ports every month. These are not loans, they are gifts! More than $1 million to Iran (please don't build a bomb), millions to Egypt (please be our friend), millions even to North Korea (please don't fire any more missiles). Hundreds of millions to India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and every other "stan."

Yet here in the U.S. we go from one financial cliff to another. There's no money for bridge repairs, or to fix ancient city sewer systems breaking down.

The politicians' answer to saving money is to cut Social Security or Medicare. No one — not politicians, not even reporters — mentions eliminating the foreign aid giveaways. Just one example: The United States has given Iraq, on average, about $150 million every month since 2001. Are our leaders insane?

GRIFF DETRICK

Flagler Beach

Vision of a spendocracy

The president of the United States is considered the most powerful leader in the world. Majority Leader Harry Reid holds the Senate in the palm of his hand. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is still in a position to wield power. This trio has almost complete control over our lives. Their vision is our vision, whether we like it or not.

Their vision is one of spending our way to prosperity. They don't seem to care that borrowing $4 billion a day is detrimental to the economy and our financial status throughout the world, and puts a huge burden on the taxpaying citizens.

How dare the Republicans try to curb their spending and balance the budget? Poor grandma, the disabled, students, Head Start kids — all will be thrown out in the street to fend for themselves if the Republicans interfere with the "vision."

But reality has nothing to do with the "vision." Reality has to do with the consequences of actions. Spending until their four years run out will have dire consequences. This is no secret. It's time for the president to be president and deal with the hard issues at hand. Time for the president to lead Reid and Pelosi in a direction that is actually good for the nation. Playing political games with the Republican Party and American citizenry serves no one and looks really petty.TIM NEESON

Ormond Beach

Health care change needed

Mac Thrower's column criticizing Gov. Rick Scott's willingness to expand Medicaid may acknowledge a loss of credibility for the governor — but the expansion of Medicaid is still good public policy. For decades, we have seen disparity of wealth grow in this country. The people who work as aides in hospitals or schools, or clerk at Macy's, Walmart or the local 7-Eleven have been struggling financially. Many Americans are simply living day to day because of underemployment and unemployment. The minimum wage buys considerably less than it did 50 years ago.

What is needed in this country is compassion, a recognition that the social fabric has frayed and that there is growing inequality in this land.

Bemoaning the cost of Medicaid misses the point. What is necessary is a reduction in the overall cost of medical care in this country. More than 17 percent of the GDP goes to health care. No other country in the world pays more than 12 percent for health services. What is needed are challenges to the obscene bills created by hospital "chargemasters," tort reform, an end to over-testing and giving the Medicare and Medicaid programs the ability to further negotiate lower prices with doctors, hospitals and drug companies.

Instead of complaining about programs that benefit people, it is important to see that they are sufficiently funded, that the tax revenue is adequate, and that they are operated efficiently.

Thrower is correct that the fundamental problem is that "people expect to get hugely expensive benefits from the government," but those people are not the working people who struggle paycheck to paycheck. It is the wealthy elite, who have manipulated the health care system and the tax system to benefit themselves.

MICHAEL DEVINE

Ormond Beach

Let freedom 'shake'

In reading a recent News-Journal, your attention might have been riveted on the Bike Week activities, the Sikh shooting, the election of a pope, or any of the other "major" news stories. Yet the most profound news story appeared in the Home & Garden section, titled " Shake" & Quake." It was a story many would dismiss as simply Middle East kids, emulating so much of the craziness there is with the U.S.-originated Harlem Shake, the Internet dance. Yet therein lies our only hope of defeating Islamic extremists.

It should be recognized by now that we are unable to defeat the Islamic extremists with our military might. Our drones are killing a lot of their leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan, but new leaders keep rising from the ranks. We are going to have to keep our drone-killing program in place for the foreseeable future to preclude total defeat. Drones won't do it when it comes to all those extremists; so many to kill, so little time.

So how do we win? It will take decades but we must be patient for our only hope lies with the youth in these countries. It is the youth, who are exposed to our way of living, our concept of democracy and freedom of the individual, who may one day rise up in sufficient numbers to overcome the Islamic extremists. Foolish as it seems on the surface, it is the growing numbers of younger people seen in the picture and discussed in the article who are our only hope to win what otherwise will be a non-winnable war. Dismiss these youth at your own peril. Without them, not only will we lose this war, but the impact the extremists will have on the Western world and the world in general is frightening at best.

<p class="bold allcaps">Tourism study missed the mark</p>
<p>Your front-page announcement that yet another $100,000 spent on a tourism workshop produced little only confirms the unparalleled stupidity of those we have elected to run Daytona Beach. </p><p>We came here for a week, and have been here a half-century. Having been around the world a few times, we noted Daytona Beach had the best beach in the world. What do we promote? The expansion of Bike Week and NASCAR. Most Daytona Beach residents stay home or go on a cruise for those two weeks. Crowds flock to Miami, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and the Riviera for beaches far inferior to ours. These crowds promote better restaurants, galleries, real estate and other good things Daytona Beach cannot afford because our leaders do not promote our really great asset: Our beach!</p><p>CARMEN RODRIGUEZ</p><p>Daytona Beach Shores</p><h3>The big giveaway</h3>
<p>Millions of dollars leave the United States for foreign ports every month. These are not loans, they are gifts! More than $1 million to Iran (please don't build a bomb), millions to Egypt (please be our friend), millions even to North Korea (please don't fire any more missiles). Hundreds of millions to India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and every other "stan." </p><p>Yet here in the U.S. we go from one financial cliff to another. There's no money for bridge repairs, or to fix ancient city sewer systems breaking down. </p><p>The politicians' answer to saving money is to cut Social Security or Medicare. No one &mdash; not politicians, not even reporters &mdash; mentions eliminating the foreign aid giveaways. Just one example: The United States has given Iraq, on average, about $150 million every month since 2001. Are our leaders <i>insane?</i></p><p>GRIFF DETRICK</p><p>Flagler Beach</p><h3>Vision of a spendocracy</h3>
<p>The president of the United States is considered the most powerful leader in the world. Majority Leader Harry Reid holds the Senate in the palm of his hand. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is still in a position to wield power. This trio has almost complete control over our lives. Their vision is our vision, whether we like it or not. </p><p>Their vision is one of spending our way to prosperity. They don't seem to care that borrowing $4 billion a day is detrimental to the economy and our financial status throughout the world, and puts a huge burden on the taxpaying citizens. </p><p>How dare the Republicans try to curb their spending and balance the budget? Poor grandma, the disabled, students, Head Start kids &mdash; all will be thrown out in the street to fend for themselves if the Republicans interfere with the "vision." </p><p>But reality has nothing to do with the "vision." Reality has to do with the consequences of actions. Spending until their four years run out will have dire consequences. This is no secret. It's time for the president to be president and deal with the hard issues at hand. Time for the president to lead Reid and Pelosi in a direction that is actually good for the nation. Playing political games with the Republican Party and American citizenry serves no one and looks really petty.TIM NEESON</p><p>Ormond Beach</p><h3>Health care change needed</h3>
<p>Mac Thrower's column criticizing Gov. Rick Scott's willingness to expand Medicaid may acknowledge a loss of credibility for the governor &mdash; but the expansion of Medicaid is still good public policy. For decades, we have seen disparity of wealth grow in this country. The people who work as aides in hospitals or schools, or clerk at Macy's, Walmart or the local 7-Eleven have been struggling financially. Many Americans are simply living day to day because of underemployment and unemployment. The minimum wage buys considerably less than it did 50 years ago. </p><p>What is needed in this country is compassion, a recognition that the social fabric has frayed and that there is growing inequality in this land. </p><p>Bemoaning the cost of Medicaid misses the point. What is necessary is a reduction in the overall cost of medical care in this country. More than 17 percent of the GDP goes to health care. No other country in the world pays more than 12 percent for health services. What is needed are challenges to the obscene bills created by hospital "chargemasters," tort reform, an end to over-testing and giving the Medicare and Medicaid programs the ability to further negotiate lower prices with doctors, hospitals and drug companies. </p><p>Instead of complaining about programs that benefit people, it is important to see that they are sufficiently funded, that the tax revenue is adequate, and that they are operated efficiently. </p><p>Thrower is correct that the fundamental problem is that "people expect to get hugely expensive benefits from the government," but those people are not the working people who struggle paycheck to paycheck. It is the wealthy elite, who have manipulated the health care system and the tax system to benefit themselves.</p><p>MICHAEL DEVINE</p><p>Ormond Beach</p><h3>Let freedom 'shake'</h3>
<p>In reading a recent News-Journal, your attention might have been riveted on the Bike Week activities, the Sikh shooting, the election of a pope, or any of the other "major" news stories. Yet the most profound news story appeared in the Home & Garden section, titled " Shake" & Quake." It was a story many would dismiss as simply Middle East kids, emulating so much of the craziness there is with the U.S.-originated Harlem Shake, the Internet dance. Yet therein lies our only hope of defeating Islamic extremists. </p><p>It should be recognized by now that we are unable to defeat the Islamic extremists with our military might. Our drones are killing a lot of their leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan, but new leaders keep rising from the ranks. We are going to have to keep our drone-killing program in place for the foreseeable future to preclude total defeat. Drones won't do it when it comes to all those extremists; so many to kill, so little time. </p><p>So how do we win? It will take decades but we must be patient for our only hope lies with the youth in these countries. It is the youth, who are exposed to our way of living, our concept of democracy and freedom of the individual, who may one day rise up in sufficient numbers to overcome the Islamic extremists. Foolish as it seems on the surface, it is the growing numbers of younger people seen in the picture and discussed in the article who are our only hope to win what otherwise will be a non-winnable war. Dismiss these youth at your own peril. Without them, not only will we lose this war, but the impact the extremists will have on the Western world and the world in general is frightening at best.</p><p>JOHN ORLANDO</p><p>Ormond Beach</p>